Shattered

Chapter 8

"Do we actually need to stop for food?" He barely heard Sky over the engine of the bike, but the statement caused him to laugh and glance at her over his shoulder.

"Yep, it's Cole's turn to cook breakfast and, trust me, you do not want that in your system."

"Fine fine, can we get IHOP? I'm really in the mood for pancakes."

"Yeah, alright, but you're going inside. I don't think I can deal with the smell of food right now."

She groaned but nodded her head and rested it against his back, tightening her arms around him, "It's too bright."

"What is? The sun?"

"Fuck off, I drank more than you did last night, so I have the right to complain." She unwrapped one of her arms to flick his ear before going back to trying to suffocate herself in his jacket.

"You did, did you? Now, how did you remember that if we were blackout drunk?"

"Years of practice, young one. Wait, shit, how old actually are you?"

Lloyd chuckled and pulled into IHOP parking lot, they got a few weird looks, maybe from people recognizing him, but shook it off. Huh, maybe changing the hair did help?

"Yeah I definitely can't go it, people might recognize me and I can't handle that right now. Do you know what to get?"

"Don't change the subject, you never answered my question! How old are you?"

"Later Sky, do you know what to get everyone?"

She sighed and got off the bike, rubbing at her eyes before putting her sunglasses and shoving her hands in her jacket, "Cole, chocolate chip pancakes, Zane just plain waffles, Jay, cinnamon pancakes , right? Yeah? Okay, Nya and Kai are blueberry waffles, and I, of course, know what I want. What about you?"

"Hmm, just surprise me. I'm gonna try and not fall asleep against my bike. Thank you for this, here use my card." He started fishing out his wallet, okay, he knows he grabbed everything (he made sure to check his wallet and bank account to see how much he spent on everything which surprisingly wasn't a lot), so he knows he has his wallet, but where-

"Oh no, I'm paying."

"You payed for lunch yesterday, and besides it's my house so it's only fair."

"But I also was the one that played with your mind and almost sent you into a psychotic breakdown so, it's the least I could do."

"First off, I agreed to it, so that's not just on you. Second, you did not almost send me into a psychotic breakdown. We both were kinda a mess afterwards. You don't need to be stressed over it."

"Oh no, I'm not stressed over it. I'm angry that you clearly need help and no adult in your family is getting it for you."

"I don't need help, Sky. Not anymore than you do."

"I wasn't the one who was beat and starved as a child, Lloyd."

Lloyd startled, Jesus he forgot about that, forgot that she knew everything about him and his past, forgot that she knew things that he probably didn't even remember traumatizing him anymore, forgot that she probably knew he better than anyone alive or dead.

"Well, at least I wasn't the one who saw my best friend die in front of me." She didn't say anything to that, just crossed her arms and looked down at the ground, kicking a pebble with her boot.

"I guess we're both pretty messed up, huh? Maybe we both need therapy."

They both chuckled, the mood definitely more sober and solemn that it was before, which is not something Lloyd wanted for today. Thankfully, Sky seemed to understand and ultimately agree as she spun on her heels and started walking to the building.